Dinner had been delicious. Cybil and Alec had returned just in time to join them, and they were treated to an American feast of barbecue and all of the trimmings. Cybil was her usual chatty self and was sharing with everyone all that she and Alec had done that day, and her chatter had followed the group into the overstated and large living room after dinner.

Grace noticed that Rainer and Elizabeth were starting to get a glazed look in their eyes,  Douglas, Alec, and Bryce had ceased to pay her any attention halfway through dinner, and Alec and Bryce were currently having a quiet discussion about how the past few weeks had progressed. Grace had welcomed Cybil's chatter during dinner but was finally ready for a break, so she headed towards Douglas on the opposite side of the large room.

Douglas welcomed her with a smile, and Grace sat in the large wingchair opposite him. He had been examining a chessboard with some interest and motioned to it with an incline of his head. "Do you play?"

"Yes, although I haven't played in years, so I'm afraid I wouldn't be much of a challenge for you to beat."

He tilted her head and looked at her thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure about that," he concluded, his warm voice held a smile even though his face was passive.  Douglas must be from whom Bryce got his reserve.

Douglas Stevens was a handsome man just like his sons.  His once dark hair was now mostly white, but his grey eyes still held a sparkle, especially when he looked at his wife which he was doing at that moment. Grace watched as they silently communicated; their closeness and love for each other were apparent.

"She is a sweet girl, but she sure can talk." He turned his gaze to Cybil, who had stood and was reenacting a story she was telling.

Grace just smiled "Yes, she is sweet and very young."

"Where in the states are you from?" he asked switching his attention back to her.

"I'm from Georgia."

He nodded. "I thought I detected a bit of a southern drawl. Is that where your family lives?"

"No." Grace knew she wasn't very forthcoming with her answer, but she hated the look of pity most people gave her when they realized she was alone in the world and had been since she was a small child. What she hated the most was all of the questions that inevitably followed.

Her simple answer meant that she and Douglas sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts.

Grace's mind had wandered to Bryce. When she had told him that she had no family or men in her life, he hadn't asked a lot of questions. He had taken her statement as a fact and not bothered to dwell on it. But then he wouldn't, a little voice said, he would have to care to ask questions. Bryce may have been attracted to her, but he was in no way interested in her personally. For that, he would have to emit some sort of emotion, and Bryce was not big on the emotion thing.

Grace turned her gaze towards Crystal who was standing next to Bryce with her hand in the crook of his arm. He had been polite to her all evening, but he had not expressed any more feeling towards her then he had towards Grace or even Cybil, maybe he was an extremely private man.

Grace remembered the wicked smile he had given her just before he had kissed her, the dimple in his cheek, the glint in his eye. Perhaps if Grace hadn't of been thinking of that kiss, yet again, she wouldn't have missed the signs of Crystal's rising temper.

"Don't you ever shut-up child!" she practically screamed at Cybil, who had moved onto talk about a movie she had seen just before they had come to Kent.

The room went utterly silent.

Grace watched as Cybil turned bright red and then very pale. Bryce had looked down at Crystal his face wearing his usual impassive mask.  She felt Douglas tense beside her, Rainer frowned, and both Elizabeth and Alec rose as if to block Cybil from the harsh words.

She knew Elizabeth's mothering instinct had kicked into gear, but Alec had gone pale and then bright red with anger.

All of this Grace noted in a matter of seconds as Cybil had apologized and excused herself in a shaky voice filled with tears, but to her credit, she did not run from the room, she slowly walked away head held high.

Grace swept a glance around the room once more, her eyes meeting Bryce's. She thought she saw a look of concern, and she could have sworn he was telling her to go and check on Cybil, getting what he wanted without using a single word.

Alec made to move towards the door, and Bryce's hand landed on his shoulder stopping him, but his gaze never left Grace's, confirming that she had read him right.

As she rose from her seat beside Douglas, Grace finally tore her eyes from his to look at Crystal. She had a look of relief on her face and had looked up at Bryce as if to say 'aren't you glad that's over.'

Grace watched as Crystal's eyes narrowed and followed Bryce's gaze towards her. Grace had never been on the receiving end of such a cold look before, and she had received more than her fair share.

"I'll go," Grace finally said to no one in particular.

*******

It was over an hour later before she had Cybil coaxed back into a semblance of her usual self. She had assured Cybil that everyone in the room had thought Crystal was the rude one and that she should be the one that was embarrassed not Cybil.

In an attempt to focus Cybill's mind on something else, Grace mentioned that Alec had seemed livid and asked her again if they had had a good day.  Grace wasn't a matchmaker, she had never been, but if Cybil could focus on a potential romance, she might get over her hurt a little quicker.

As she closed Cybil's door, she realized that she was far from sleep.   Cybil's comfortable and stable childhood had been so different from her own. Grace couldn't help wondering if she had become a different person if her parents had lived and given her a similar childhood.

With a sigh, she headed down the stairs towards Elizabeth's room to get her laptop and notes.  If she was going to be up late, she might as well be productive.

When she opened the door, it was to see Elizabeth sitting at the desk in the corner closing her laptop.

"Oh, I'm sorry I just came to get my laptop."

Elizabeth rose with a smile. "Its fine you didn't disturb me, I was doing one last check of my emails before I went to bed.  With so many children I feel the need to check frequently. It seems someone always needs something." 

Grace smiled in return secretly wondering what it would be like to have a mother she could email and call whenever she needed to talk. She gave herself a mental shake; she needed to stop dwelling on what she didn't have.  What was with her lately?  Generally, she focused on what she did have.

Grace suddenly felt a presence behind her in the open doorway, and she turned to see Bryce watching her and his mother.

"Yes, dear?" Elizabeth asked.

"Gertrude is looking for you. She has the hot chocolate made."

Elizabeth nodded but turned back to Grace. "How is dear Cybil? I can't believe that Crystal was so rude."

"Yes you can Mother, Crystal has always been unbearably rude." Bryce had moved further into the room and begun a slow walk around, looking at all of the photos.

Elizabeth frowned, looking at her son.  Grace couldn't tell why she had frowned. It was either because her son had called her out or because her son was right and she had never thought of it before. Grace believed it was the latter. Elizabeth seemed to be someone who always believed the best in everyone.

"Cybil will be fine, she has the resilience of youth," Grace assured her.

There was silence for a moment as Elizabeth watched her son. Grace turned and saw that he had picked up the photo of himself on horseback. The same one on which she had focused earlier that day.

"That was Grace's favorite also."

Grace held back a blush,  she had never been super sensitive because of her rough childhood, but since meeting Bryce, all she seemed to do was blush.

"It's me, isn't it?" He looked at his mother as she nodded.

"I don't remember ever having seen it before. I assume Davis took it?"

"Yes, and now if you'll you excuse me?  Gertrude and I have had a habit of sharing a pot of cocoa before bed, we've done it since the children were little. She always knew things I didn't and vice versa, but together we knew just about everything." 

After she had gone, Grace turned back to look at Bryce who was still looking at the photo.

"What do you like about it?" Bryce sat it back on the mantel then turned towards her with his hands in his pockets.

She could give the easy answer and say it was very Americana, but for some reason, something was pushing at her, to tell the truth.  Maybe it was the blank, cold look he was giving her.

"It's not that I like it necessarily, I'm drawn to it because at that moment," she nodded towards the photo, "that cowboy looks so completely alone as if he has some heavy burdens he is carrying and no one with whom to share them." Grace was careful not to identify him as the cowboy necessarily.

Bryce gave her a thoughtful look then looked back at the photo. "That's very perceptive of you." He said not bothering to deny her interpretation.

Grace shrugged crossing her arms in front of her. She was suddenly cold in her sundress. "It's something I can recognize having been there myself."

His gaze swiveled back to hers as if he was going to deny that she had any real worries but the look in her eyes must have stopped him. He frowned watching her. He seemed to see all that she didn't want him to see, and it made her very nervous, so she moved to pick up her work that was still sitting on the ottoman.

"Is Cybil O.K?" he asked.

The Americanism O.K. in his British accent made her smile.

"She learned a hard lesson tonight. She's young and has had a sheltered life, but she'll be fine." 

"And you haven't had a sheltered life?"

"I have learned more than my fair share of hard lessons."

"Your blushes say different." He gave a teasing smile that made her knees weak.

"Don't do that, it isn't fair," she snapped suddenly, completely taken aback by herself.

Bryce's grin just widened, and his eyes took on a little sparkle. "Don't do what?" he asked innocently.

"Smile," she snapped again.

"It's just a simple smile Grace." The way he said her name made her shiver.

"It is anything but simple, just like that kiss was anything but simple." She turned her back to him as soon as she said it.  She had never wanted the floor to open up and swallow her so badly in her life. She had been trying to treat the kiss as casually as he had.

"My dear Grace that kiss was very simple."

Grace swung around to look at him.  Was he teasing her?

His gaze ran from the top of her head to the tips of her bare toes then settled on her lips.  Grace almost gasped at the fire she saw in his eyes. Those eyes were anything but cold now.

Suddenly frightened, she pulled her laptop and work closer to her chest as if it would protect her.

"It's hard for me to believe that someone who has learned so many of life's hard lessons is so obviously as innocent as you are."

Grace suddenly felt ashamed and sad all at the same time, and she could feel tears pricking the back of her eyes as she gave a wobbly smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Some hard lessons keep you innocent."

Grace bravely met Bryce's gaze. "Goodnight Bryce," she said as she turned and left the room as quickly as she could before he could see her cry.